What's new?

Mostly the same old stuff. Still on my contract at T-Mobile. New school term starts on Saturday. Managed to knock out 30 some semester hours this last term. I am also starting a Relational Database course from Stanford. Officially runs 10 Oct to 12 December but they released some of that materials early. Other than that just getting back into walking. I mostly skipped last week because I just wasn't feeling that good, but back on it this week. This morning was perfect down at Golden Gardens.

Heard on the news this morning

Britain's austerity measures have decreased economic activity to the point that Britain is on the verge of slipping back into recession. Now is anyone from the GOP paying attention.

Windows 8- First Impressions

I installed Windows 8 last night, and so far I have mixed feelings about it.  My impressions:

1.  Installation was a breeze – once I got it to work. VMWare Player just would not work with the install.  That’s not Microsoft’s fault so I am giving them a plus on ease of installation.  After this things were decidedly more mixed.

2.  Account management – Your Windows Live ID was strongly suggested as the default user account.  There is probably a way to skip that but I didn’t really look.  I am not thrilled with this idea.  I know everyone is into device convergence now, but I want some separation or at least the option of maintaining that separation.  Big minus here.

3.  Ease of use – BLOWS.  This is definitely cellphone / tablet centric.  Everything from the start menu is on the desktop, and they mimic that touch pad flick with scroll-bars.  I like the initial set of apps, but after that its kind of a cluttered mess.  Beyond that, once you open an app the only way to close it is with the windows key, and I use close reservedly.  What it really does is minimize and move off the screen like a cell phone.  Actually closing a program required opening task manager and killing it.  YUCK!  On top of that every app was full screen, so no multitasking.  YUCK! again.

4.  Apps – I have to say that all of the Apps that I tried were very good but they were all very casual, if you get what I mean, lifestyle oriented not productivity oriented.  Not useful for anyone trying to do serious work.

That’s all I have had time for so far.  As is I see some potential for the teenage XBox live crowd, but not for serious users, definitely not for the business user.  Despite that I like the look and feel.  I don’t know how to explain it really but the graphic design team did it’s job well.  It just feels inviting to the user.  That is a huge plus, but it’s not enough.

Fun for Geeks

Microsoft has released the Developer Preview for Windows 8.  Along wit the OS and some tools the site has links to programming tutorials, APIs, and code samples.  I am not a code monkey but one of my goals this year is to write an iOS app, an Android app, and now a Windows 8 app. 

Something I am wondering about

A few years ago there was a lot of talk about how Saddam Hussien had moved his WMD to Syria in the run up to the invasion of Iraq. It quieted down and then popped up again when Israel bombed the reactor site., then it quieted down again. Now it looks possible that the Assad regime may fall, if it does and we get in there and find Iraqi WMDs does that vindicate George W. Bush or is he still an idiot for not realizing they had been moved?

Inventor of the e-book dies

Michael s. Hart died 9/6/2011 in Illinois. 

Personally I love the Project Gutenberg site.  It’s my go to for things like the Federalist Papers, Locke’s Second Treatise etc.  Anyway just thought I would mention it.

h/t

A follow-up on Galileo and Rick Perry

Instapundit, this morning, links to people who take issue with those of us who thought Rick Perry's invocation of Galileo as the patron saint of Global Warming Skepticism was flawed.

In response, Yes many of Galileo's peers rejected his observations and theories. That is kind of the basis of peer reviewed science. The exchange of ideas back and forth until a consensus is reached. Even then those consensuses can be wrong (as may well be the case with AGW). Galileo engaged in this behavior himself, rejecting Kepler's ideas on the nature of tides. And yes, In many ways environmentalism does mimic a religion; that however is not the question Rick Perry was asked or the question that he answered.

He was asked to name a global warming skeptic that he found particularly convincing - instead he tried to bring doubt on the theory by invoking Galileo and his battle with the Catholic church, but that was not a scientific question that was a doctrinal question and he was prosecuted by the Inquisition (for Heresy I believe but that doesn't really matter). The point is that asked to provide a scientific basis for his views Perry instead fell back on a semi-religious anti-scientific one. When asked a follow-on he doubled down on the anti-science argument:

HARRIS: Just to follow up quickly. Tell us how you've done that.

(APPLAUSE)

Are there specific -- specific scientists or specific theories that you've found especially compelling, as you...

(CROSSTALK)

PERRY: Let me tell you what I find compelling, is what we've done in the state of Texas, using our ability to regulate our clean air. We cleaned up our air in the state of Texas, more than any other state in the nation during the decade. Nitrous oxide levels, down by 57 percent. Ozone levels down by 27 percent.

That's the way you need to do it, not by some scientist somewhere saying, "Here is what we think is happening out there." The fact of the matter is, the science is not settled on whether or not the climate change is being impacted by man to the point where we're going to put America's economics in jeopardy.

source

And what formed the basis for that reduction in Nitrous Oxide levels Governor? Was it perhaps some scientific evidence that showed that Nitrous Oxide had some undesirable health effects as a contributor to smog, caused depletion of the ozone layer, and is a greenhouse gas? Or did someone in Texas just wake up one morning and say - "Hey, you know what? I really hate Nitrous Oxide let's get rid of it" Obviously the decision based on scientific research is preferable.

The argument I would have supported from Governor Perry would have been along the lines of, "There are a lot of scientists who are rethinking their position on Global Warming and because of that I feel further investigation is warranted. Until the time when questions, such as the recent cloud formation research conducted at CERN in Switzerland, have been addressed this is an issue that properly belongs in the purview of the states. And to those who question the ability of the states to handle these questions I would point to the Texas example in regulation Nitrous Oxide and Ozone which have been reduced more in Texas than in any other state over the past decade."

I'm starting to like the cut of this Huntsman fellow's jib...

I don't agree with him completely on everything of course (for example Global Warming, while I believe that man may be a contributor I'm not sure that I agree that we are the main driver, especially in light of the recent CERN research on cloud formation and the decrease in temps following the lull in sunspot activity), but he does come of as intelligent and both reasonable and reasoning and seems to have concrete ideas on how to address most of the countries current problems that go beyond platitudes. I like that, and I have always said that major changes in politics and culture have to occur incrementally so if Huntsman delivers 60% of what I want that's to the good; I can come back for that next 40% later.

Then there is Rick Perry (and to a lesser extent Michelle Bachman), yes Perry has a record as the Governor of Texas, some of it good such as job creation, some of it stupid, such as talking about Texas's right to secede from the Union, but he really lost me last night when he was discussing global warming. It's a small thing but his comparison of Global Warming Skeptics to Galileo was galling, it wasn't other scientists that locked Galileo away for years, it was the church because science was a challenge their authority which was partly maintained by an Aristotellian world view. Couple that with his recent prayer meeting and to me that indicates a man who filters everything through his religious faith. I know people said that about George W. Bush too, but compare how the two act, with Bush his faith was a personal issue with Perry I think it will be a policy making mechanism.

SurveyUSA–Majority of Obama Voters Will Support Him In 2012 If He Utterly and Completely Destroys the US Economy.

The message from Obama voters seems clear enough; stop messing around and kill it already. America had a good run but it’s time for it to go. At least that’s the way I read the results of this SurveyUSA poll.

A new survey of Obama voters by Survey USA found that by a margin of 82%-18% they are more likely to support him again in 2012 if he raises taxes on the rich.

What Obama voters don’t want is any kind of deal that would cut government programs in exchange for GOP support of his jobs plan. Forty one percent of respondents said that they would be less likely support his reelection campaign if Obama cuts government programs, and 21% said that they would be more likely to support him in 2012. Thirty two percent said that it made no difference in their support if the president cut government programs. Over 2/3 of Obama voters (67%) said that they would be less likely to support him in 2012 if he cuts Social Security or Medicare.

…

Barring a big jobs plan, there is one more thing that Obama can do to keep his 2008 supporters solidly in his camp.

President Obama can raise taxes on the rich. By a whopping margin of 82%-5%, Obama voters said that they would be more likely to support the president in 2012 if he raised taxes on the rich and closed the corporate loopholes.

(actual poll results)

Looking at these results I am guessing that the respondents won’t be supporting Huntsman’s economic plan, which received the Wall Street Journal’s seal of approval this morning:

Republican Presidential candidate and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman is lagging in the polls, but the economic agenda he rolled out this week may start getting him more attention. And deservedly so.

The heart of the plan lowers all tax rates on individuals and businesses. Mr. Huntsman would create three personal income tax rates—8%, 14% and 23%—and pay for this in a “revenue-neutral” way by eliminating “all deductions and credits.” This tracks with the proposals of the bipartisan Bowles-Simpson commission and others for a flatter, more efficient tax system.

That means economically inefficient tax carve outs for mortgage interest, municipal bonds, child credits and green energy subsidies would at last be closed. The double tax on capital gains and dividends would be expunged as would the Alternative Minimum Tax. The corporate tax rate falls to 25% from 35%, and American businesses would be taxed on a territorial system to encourage firms to return capital parked in overseas operations.

Pretty much the opposite of everything Obama voters say they want.

I don’t remember Pokeman being anything like this: